This might all be quite amusing except that I’m hogtied in the trunk of the car. So are you. I’ve been doing my best to think about other things than the debt ceiling over the last 36 hours, but it’s beginning to look like Speaker Boehner is going abdicate any responsibility for passing something that can become law, which means he’s gambling that if he simply runs out of time he can blame the Democrats, the Senate, and the president for not acceding to his every unreasonable demand. He really is not very good at his job. A brick on the accelerator, indeed.
Except, maybe, things are not as they seem. Let us hope.
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"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."I really wish the President hadn’t used this fiasco as an opportunity for gamesmanship towards his own reelection. It was a good strategy, it’s obvious why he found it intriguing. He’s winning every battle politically, dominating every battle politically, but fuck if the war ain’t actually won yet. And his opponents are the black knight in Monty Python. Heck, they refuse to believe they’ve even taken so much as a flesh wound in all this…
The ceiling should have been raised in May. Obama should have just dropped the “social security checks may not go out” bomb back then and circumvented this whole thing. Because we know Treasury technically could keep things afloat without congressional debt authorization (since they have for now), there wouldn’t have been this sense of impending chaos. There would have been more time to find the release valve for Boehner without pushing right up against an unyielding deadline with negotiations completely deadlocked.
Oh well, here’s to heartburn. It’s gonna be a fun week.
You had a clean debt-limit increase bill in May go down to defeat. It got 97 votes — and there are way more than 97 Democrats in the House.
A lot of people picked this fight, and they’re not all Republicans.
The debt ceiling was still an abstraction at that point with the public. This whole time, we knew that the public would change its tune once they became educated on the issue. They did. They are thoroughly on the President’s and Democrats’ side, rhetorically. But now it’s almost too late. This has now evolved beyond simple politics. The meth head captor still has the fucking hostage, and the gun is still loaded.
By allowing the public education to play out over many months, with more and more “deadlines” missed every week, we’re all worse off for it. Because now we have one week left. As it always happens, we finally reach the one deadline that can’t be broken.
It’s another case of politicians thinking they had all the time in the world to work something out, when, if they had the capacity to work something out (and one side clearly doesn’t) they would have done it already. It will always be my preference to get out ahead of the game and put a stop to Republican shenanigans as early as possible, rather than trying to trick them into self-sabotage. Because they don’t recognize self-sabotage. They have no instinct for self-preservation, or moderation, or duty. They’re fucking crazy. And crazy people need to be taken out of commission as immediately as possible.
Have you considered the possibility that both sides are playing chicken with this mess?
I have.
It’s an “all in”, go for broke approach. On both sides.
Neither one is ready to cave in to the other.
The little moves hither and thither have been fakes, feints and half-hearted bargains.
It’s now “Go ahead. Let the country hit the wall and see who the American public blames most.”
And although the Dems are way ahead in the general blame game here (My own take at the moment is roughly 2-1 against the RatPubs and climbing as the media continues to make Obama look reasonable and Boehner to look…well, to look like a serial drunk, which he most definitely is.), the problem is that if both cars hit head on no pieces may remain that are worth picking up.
Arab Spring?
We are almost inexorably headed for an American Summer You know…like maybe 1968?
Only it won’t be just “Negroes” because the black population won’t be the only segment of the society getting the shaft.
Plus…what is left in the U.S. of our military is comprised largely of the same segments of the population that will be feeling the heat of a financial breakdown most strongly.
OOOooooooo…scaaaary!!!
My bet?
Both sides will blink and a compromise will magically appear.
My cover my ass bet?
The Rats are too fucking stupid to see the real possibility of a total ocietal breakdown.
Gonna be interesting, one way or the other.
For sure!
Watch.
AG
Obama has started to remind me of Jimmy Carter. I’m reading few items coming out from Washington this weekend that claim to quote from unnamed Democratic Senators and Congresscritters, expressing disappointment in “President Halfway” and how both sides of the congressional aisle are convinced that the president will cave at the last moment of negotiations.
Now, we all know how these “unnamed sources” articles can be wildly misleading, but this is a trend worth watching. Carter’s downfall ultimately was losing the support of most of his own party in Congress. Obama won’t have the same sort of substantial primary challenge that Carter got from Ted Kennedy due to the race factor. But if his own party doesn’t trust him as a leader there isn’t really any hope left.
Politicians? Sniping anonymously? Breaking solidarity and knifing their leadership when things take a turn towards the unknown?
Well, I never!
Obama has 1000 times the credibility and prestige of every Democrat in congress combined. There will be no primary. There will be no crisis in confidence. There will continue to be whiny bitches covering their own asses in the corridors of power. But so it has always been thus.
Well said
Golly, he must be Superman!
You love him, don’t you? I can just feel the love.
1000 times? I’d have to disagree. I’ve seen George Miller, for example, really push hard for legislation that every progressive would get behind.
As for Obama? Well, when Mr. Constitutional Law Scholar campaigned against the Bush view of torture, Habeus, etc., then got elected and adopted the John Yoo interpretation of the Constitution he pretty much flushed his credibility down the toilet. And no amount of blaming the filibuster or Congress can cover up the fact that he owns that betrayal 100% by himself.
Dammit. I picked up the whole thread by accident, I just wanted the last comment. Sorry all. If someone could delete all bar the comment by MAX at the end that would be great.
Again, my apologies. I fail at the internet today.
Part of me has stopped caring, another half — like Arthur — wants them to just set the damn place on fire. I’m just waiting for the final package to be signed so we can move on to the next embarrassing failure for our country to display to the world how ungovernable we are: the budget.
Obama is just continuing to do what he’s always done – dealing with the Republicans as responsible adults.
Despite all the evidence to the contrary.
I don’t fault Boehner for this. He’s doing what HE’S always done.
Obama is supposed to be more intelligent.
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"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."So explain me this…
Many on the Right are claiming that Obama is going back on the January budget agreement by even talking about raising taxes for some as part of the ceiling negotiations.
OK fine.
But aren’t the Republicans going back on that budget by calling for more cuts to raise the ceiling needed to make the budget work?
Maybe I’m not stupid enough to get this.
True, you are not stupid enough, indeed quite the opposite. Problem is you don’t live in the parallel universe.
Wow, it’s almost like you are saying the the GOP passed a budget a few months ago and are now refusing to pay for it.
Gosh that is what you are saying. And sink me if you’re not absolutely right.
Am I wrong about this? didn’t Orange Julius decide to go out and get drunk this afternoon instead of coming up with a deal?
yes. yes, he did.
Going along with the car/accelerator/brick/trunk analogy, who else is feeling a bit car sick? I have been feeling it for months. Stop the car. I want to get out and go to a sane country.